Have I got a story for you!!! Today I woke up in Concord, MA to an inch of wet snow and temps just below freezing. Since it was an early Sunday morning with no traffic, I thought I try out my brand new IS350 with 18" wheel sport package and see if it can handle this amount of snow on original equip. (I'm waiting for proper 17" wheels to arrive in the States so I can mount some winter tires). About 400 yds from my driveway I encountered 2 beautiful deer standing in the road just around a slight downhill bend. I was at 15mph in 3gear, manual drive, reg trans mode and simply couldn't stop. The car skidded sideways and with VDIM and antilock brakes chiming like Big Ben, I luckily slid to a stop in the driveway on my right about 5 ft from the trees and fence along its left side. The car wouldn't turn at all it was like driving a sled. Granted the conditions were perfect (black ice under the wet snow) but this is really dangerous. I've had three GS's including a 430 with winter tires and it outperforms my Explorer in 6 inches or less no contest. This new and magnificent machine is a wonder but don't ever go in snow without snow tires. AAA towed me to my home and out came the Explorer.